Facebook has turned over its recent findings regarding Russian Facebook ads to Robert Mueller, the special counsel heading up the investigation of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Facebook announced Wednesday $100,000 was purchased for ads from June 2015 to May 2017 by a Russian “troll farm” called the Internet Research Agency, which has promoted pro-Russian propaganda. The money was connected to approximately 3,000 ads and 470 “inauthentic accounts and pages.”
Facebook provided Mueller copies of the advertisements and informations about the buyers, Reuters reported. Mueller, along with multiple congressional committees, are examining if Russia attempted to influence the 2016 election and whether there are any connections between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Facebook also informed members of the House and Senate intelligence committees about their findings regarding the Russian advertising. The committees are conducting their own probes into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the election.
Alex Stamos, Facebook’s chief security officer, released a blog post that stated Facebook investigated the ads to determine if there was any relation between Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 election and the Facebook ads.
“We know we have to stay vigilant to keep ahead of people who try to misuse our platform,” Stamos said in his blog post. “We believe in protecting the integrity of civic discourse, and require advertisers on our platform to follow both our policies and all applicable laws. We also care deeply about the authenticity of the connections people make on our platform.”
Facebook did state that it did not find any connection between the ads and any particular presidential campaign. Rather, the ads appeared to be have a national focus.
No laws may have been violated, however, Facebook suspended 470 accounts associated with the ads because they failed to meet authenticity requirements.
